


Like A Record

by KD (AbstractSong101)



Category: Glee
Genre: Episode Related, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-05
Updated: 2015-02-05
Packaged: 2018-03-10 16:06:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3296441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbstractSong101/pseuds/KD
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reaction fic to 6x05 with no spoilers beyond. Set right after the Invitational results are announced. There are brief mentions of Karofsky and Walter, but this fic is Klaine-centric.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Like A Record

Blaine was shaking as he sat down on the steps in the choir room. He glared at his hands, as if he could stop the trembling by sheer force of will alone.

Losing the invitational had not been part of his plan. He was sure that The Warblers had performed admirably, even if he hadn’t been there to see it, and had assured his team of that as they climbed into the bus back to Dalton.

“Tomorrow, I’ll tell you some stories from my time at McKinley,” he’d promised them. “Trust me, this isn’t the weirdest thing to have happened here, by a long way.”

He’d cried off from sharing the bus back with them, not quite in the mood to deal with a bunch of boys, and thanking his lucky stars that he’d driven here yesterday afternoon. _Was it only yesterday afternoon? _he thought. So much had happened since then, everything felt so different than it did when he had arrived here.__

__A noise at the door disturbed him._ _

__“Hi,” Kurt said quietly. His hand lingered back on the door frame, fingers tapping out a nervous rhythm. Blaine frowned, it was unlike Kurt to be even this outwardly rattled. “I can go, if I’m interrupting you,” he offered._ _

__Blaine swallowed, pinching his lips together in an effort to disguise the fact that he felt like he was trying to breathe underwater._ _

__“You’re not interrupting anything,” he finally forced out, a small smile twisting it’s way onto his lips. “It’s your choir room, I just… I needed somewhere quiet to think.”_ _

__“I hear there’s a quiet elevator with an ‘out of order’ sign attached to it down the hallway. It even has a bathroom,” Kurt teased gently. When his suggestion was met with silence, he grimaced. “Too soon?”_ _

__Blaine shrugged._ _

__“Hey,” Kurt said, stepping fully into the room. He stayed the other side of the piano from Blaine, though, and Blaine was grateful. Being so close again, with so many feeling racing through him… It probably wouldn’t end well._ _

__“Rachel said your guys were great yesterday. I don’t know what happened with our Glee kids, or even where that setlist came from, but I have it on good authority that Sue’s judging was way off base. I mean, I’m not sorry it was, our kids could do with the boost, but nonetheless…”_ _

__He trailed off, shrugging helplessly at Blaine. “I’m sorry it was at the expense of your kids though, I really am.”_ _

__“They’ll be fine,” Blaine assured him. “I’ll tell them the story about Sue putting concrete in my hair gel and they’ll realize the contest wasn’t being judged by the sanest of people. If they didn’t already gather that.”_ _

__“That’s putting it mildly,” Kurt laughed, grabbing a chair and sitting backward on it, facing Blaine._ _

__“So,” he asked. “Why here? I’d have thought you’d want to be as far away from this place as possible.”_ _

__Blaine stared at his hands. “I don’t really know. I mean, I guess I just needed time to think. Things were simpler here. Well, they were simpler in Dalton, but now Dalton has this whole other meaning. So this is the next best place.”_ _

__Kurt frowned. Blaine was jumpy, his words not fully formed before they came spilling out of his mouth. He was normally so well held together, all hair gel and careful sentences. This wasn’t exactly new, Kurt had seen Blaine fall apart more than once, but somehow it felt new. Maybe because the tricks Kurt would usually use to bring him back to himself were now off the table, or maybe he just didn’t know Blaine that well any more, but he was at a loss._ _

__So he stayed quiet, and let Blaine think, and talk._ _

__“I’m sorry for mentioning Dave in the elevator. I know the whole thing must be weird for you. I just… sometimes I need you to know I’m okay, you know?”_ _

__Kurt’s eyebrows furrowed._ _

__“I mean, when we broke up the first time, I was so lost. So lost. All I wanted to do was to win you back. And maybe… Maybe I should have been taking the time to work on me.” He scrubbed at his eyes, itchy from a lack of sleep and fresh air._ _

__“So I just wanted you to know that I haven’t been hanging around waiting for you to change your mind. I’ve been trying to be a better person, for me.”_ _

__“Blaine, you’ve always been a good person.”_ _

__“Not always. And anyway, I need to reflect on the choices I make, and make sure they’re good choices for me. I can’t just try to make everyone happy.”_ _

__“That sounds like therapy talk,” Kurt said with a wry grin. “You’re right, though. You split yourself into pieces trying to help everyone you can without a care for yourself. You need to be kind to Blaine, too.”_ _

__“I’m trying, I am.”_ _

__They settled into a comfortable silence, only the noises of the auditorium being cleared up disturbing the peace. Kurt considered talking to Blaine about what he’d learnt in therapy, that he needed to open up more, be less afraid of putting his heart on the line. But once again, Blaine beat him to the punch._ _

__“That kiss didn’t mean nothing. Not to me. I know we said it was just because of Sue, and it was, but it became something else, Kurt, the minute your lips touched mine.”_ _

__Blaine looked up, eyes tinged with redness, meeting Kurt’s gaze. “I know you’ve got that guy you’re seeing, and I’ve got Dave, and I haven’t even had a chance to get my head around anything yet, but this is me, not holding onto my feelings because I think it’s the best thing to do. I still need time to… sleep, and clear my thoughts, but I just wanted you to know where I stood.”_ _

__Kurt nodded slowly. He’d never really given up on the idea of them rekindling their relationship, but he’d pushed it further to the back of his mind. Seeing Blaine and Dave together, it was the worst kick in the gut, but it was also a shove to try to move on a little. And now there was Walter._ _

__“I appreciate the honesty, Blaine.” He cringed a little at the stiffness of his words. “I think we need to take a step back, together.” An echo of a conversation they had in the loft rang around his mind, it felt like a lifetime ago. “We need to just, step back, and really think about what we’re doing. I’m not here to break you and Dave up, and it’s a decision you need to make without me in the picture.”_ _

__“Things get… cloudy… when we’re together,” Blaine agreed. Sometimes it was hard to separate themselves from the kids they’d been at Dalton. So much, and yet so little, had changed._ _

__“So let’s just take some time out, here, okay? Maybe we meet somewhere in a couple of weeks, and really talk it out, but I don’t think now, after everything that’s happened in the last day, is the best time.”_ _

__“Okay.”_ _

__Blaine shifted, stretching his legs out. “I should probably be heading back. I need a shower in the worst way.”_ _

__“Me too,” Kurt cringed._ _

__They walked out into the parking lot together, an amicable silence between them._ _

__“Can I still text you?” Blaine asked, his hand on his car door handle. “Not all the time, I just… I’ve missed you. I don’t want it to be two weeks of radio silence. I won’t text about anything heavy, I promise.”_ _

__“Of course,” Kurt smiled. “You’ll have to let me know what your Dalton boys think about the things Sue got up to. McKinley is a world away.”_ _

__Blaine looked up at the building he’d called home for two years. It was filled with memories of him and Kurt, just like Dalton was, even though the time they had spent at the same school was relatively brief._ _

__“I will,” he promised. “Remind me of any I might have missed.” He opened his car door and slipped inside. “Don’t be a stranger, Kurt.”_ _


End file.
